Playgrounders I need your help (possibly saving my home)

[YPU]

Some of you may have read my post in the depression tread but I will explain again here;


Village administration (or counsel or what have you) had decided that they will build a road. Now that’s all good and all, but the area this road will be build has been decided already and no matter what my current house and its surroundings are either going down or are going to live as a highway shack. I was born in this house, and have lived in here for 19 years now, this house and the surrounding nature area are the very décor of my childhood, so you can see why I am upset.
The juicy part is yet to come tough. They of course have a reason for the road, it costs money so they wont be doing it just for cheap trills. They have done research, which proves that the village center is more dangerous because of traffic then it could be. Ok that’s a good reason, but the research is more then 5 years old. In that time the entire road structure of the center has changed and there have been build several highway connections. These days anybody who is going trough the city is doing is because they need to be there, bad, or else you would be crazy to.
My parents and several other highly intelligent locals have noticed this problem and have entered the obligatory group the village has to create when contemplating such a project. They have made some extremely strong arguments. In fact the same village government has ruled that in the region they are planning the road there should be no new building due to nature value. So nobody is allowed to rebuild there homes here for instance. That’s fine but what the heck gives them the right to ignore their own rules? The council seems ignorant of all the arguments and simply says “oh yes your right, we hadn’t thought of that.” Only to restate the road will be build the next day. Bloody hypocrites.
I can see why they would want to build a road to increase safety but please, do they need to ruin my home and what’s more, a rare piece of nature exclusive to the Netherlands when there is proof that they are making the wrong plan for it?

Now a local news agency has a poll on their site. I asked and apparently they don’t care where the people reacting are from, as long as they have an opinion. So, if you feel moved by the above text please to to http://www.tvschijndel.nl/ scroll down a bit, at the right side of the screen below the main menu there is a poll, since most of you don’t speak dutch I’ll translate;

Geef uw mening = Give your opinion
De zuidelijke randweg moet er snel komen = The south side road should be build soon
Eens = Yes
Oneens = No
Geen mening = No opinion
Stem = vote resultaten = results

If you wont mind helping me, please vote no, that’s oneens in dutch, thanks in advance.

Any questions or opinions are of course also welcome.

[Kjata]

Voted. And good luck.

[phoenixineohp]

I think that's a serious problem in many regards. You likely have a good legal challenge due to the nature laws.

I also kept thinking 'Arthur Dent'.

Voted and good luck!

[Dallas-Dakota]

I voted no yesterday.

And Pssht *nitpick*
Ja = Yes.
No = No.
Eens = Agree.
Oneens = Disagree.
Stem = Vote.

[dish]

Voted for you. But, do you think the village administration are likely to pay any attention whatsoever to this poll?

[Thanatos 51-50]

If they pay attention to these votes, You have seriously tipped the scales in your favour.

You dirty, dirty, cheater.
This gets the Thanatos Stamp of Approval.
:smallamused:

[Kelmeras]

Voted.

And the nays are up by almost 3:1 at this point. If they pay attention to this poll, you've got one hell of an ace up your sleeve. :nale:

[LCR]

If you have insurance, I would get a lawyer and sue them. If you don't have insurance, this might still be viable, since in a large enough group (assuming not only you are affected by the new highway), you can easily split the legal fees.
You might also want to contact your MP (assuming this is how Dutch politics work), a TV station, preferably one of those programmes that make a huge fuzz out of everything and every other form of media available to you.

[KnightDisciple]

There you go, another "no/disagree".
Roads can be built curved, after all.

[Archonic Energy]

I also kept thinking 'Arthur Dent'.

Voted and good luck!

glad i wasn't the only one!

voted.

[Lord Herman]

Noooo! They can't build a highway through your house! It's the awesomest house ever! Also, it's been the site of every Dutch meetup to date - I think the UN should put it on their list of protected monuments or something.

Anyway, I voted no. Also, I second the idea of making a fuss. The village administration is clearly breaking some laws in building that road; let's see them get away with it when the whole country knows about it.

[Ninja Chocobo]

Voted.
Do they intend to give you anything in return for destroying your house?

[thubby]

*votes*
if by some miscarriage of justice this still goes through, you could always ravage the land while it's yours.

[Felixaar]

Voted. I'll put out my best wishes too.

When the playground unites, we cannot fail!!!

[Mc. Lovin']

Voted! Good luck and that

[YPU]

Thanks to everybody who has voted, its very much appreciated.

Yea, we are working on getting the media involved currently, networking is getting us a long way at that it seems.
As for breaking laws, its not as much they haven’t done anything they shouldn’t have, they are however really walking the fine lines of the grey zone. In the Netherlands sue’ing is somewhat harder and frowned upon as “American showgitz” when overdone, but its still a last option.
We would get paid for the house, but that’s the houses value only, and only when the road would need our house to be destroyed, if it say would go trough the backyard we would get only the price of the small track of land. And the payment would of course not cover any sentimental values.

And they are politicians, when many people give their opinion they generally tend to pay attention.

[Sereg]

Just voted for you. Oneens is now at 73.8%.

[evisiron]

Another "Save Arthur Dent!" vote for you. :smallsmile:

[AKA_Bait]

Done. Hope it helps.

[Dirk Kris]

*salutes*
Good luck, sir.
*twitches from doing unbalanced goodness*

[vegetalss4]

here's another vote for NO

[Tamis]

I voted as well!

I suggest sending an angry but well formulated letter to the lettercolumns of Newspapers who have a large reach in our little county, like Metro (apart from the Telegraaf the most read newspaper in the Netherlands, third is Spits and I believe that Volkskrant is fourth). I don't know if it will really help your cause, but it certainly won't hurt.
And write letters (send with postage and all that, so it won't get lost between thousands of emails) to the provice and ministers, if the city counsil won't listen, go over their heads.
Organise a protestmarch in Schijndel! (If that's workable.)
Also, since the data they're using is 5 years old, try and find some more recent data if that is available, it wil probably help strenghten your argument.

Also, if it will happen no matter wat, try and get as much money out of it as you can. I can imagine the propertyvalue of your house will be quite a bit less when there's a freaking road going through your garden.

[Lupy]

Voted!

The "oneens" seem to be very far ahead now, best of luck!

[Lord Herman]

*snip* like Metro (apart from the Telegraaf the most read newspaper in the Netherlands, *snip*

Seriously? The Telegraaf has more readers than the Volkskrant? But... but... it's not even a proper newspaper! It's more like a gossip tabloid in the shape of a newspaper.

[Tamis]

Seriously? The Telegraaf has more readers than the Volkskrant? But... but... it's not even a proper newspaper! It's more like a gossip tabloid in the shape of a newspaper.

And yet it's the best read. :) It cannot be compared to any other Dutch newspaper, I think the closest you can get is Das Bild in Germany. I personally hate reading The Telegraaf, but I've got to respect them for being so unique and making their strange concept work.

Anyway, let's get back on topic. :)

[xanin]

You've got my vote against highway tyranny as well. Hope it does some good.

[Dallas-Dakota]

The Telegraaf only has so many readers because they put stacks of it with pretty much every train station. Metro also does this but is even lower quality then The Telegraaf.

Also, best newspaper = AD.
Actually, De Dordtenaar was the best, but then it converted into the AD.....
My dad's been a journalist for 20+ years there now....

Also, Tamis, always nice to see another countryman(or in this case woman:smalltongue:) on gitp. Did you recently became active again? Since I noticed your join date is 2005.

Also, whats up with dutch people on gitp RP'ing halflings? Should I do it to?:smalltongue:

[Goblin Music]

YPU my vote is for you.
if the worst comes to worst, don't forget your towel:smalltongue:

[RabbitHoleLost]

Best wishes for you, YPU <3

[Castaras]

Also, whats up with dutch people on gitp RP'ing halflings? Should I do it to?:smalltongue:

It's a conspiracy! All Dutch people are evil halfling psychopaths who have deep seated emotional problems and want to kill us in our sleep! :smalleek:

[Lord Herman]

It's a conspiracy! All Dutch people are evil halfling psychopaths who have deep seated emotional problems and want to kill us in our sleep! :smalleek:

Hey, it's you who keeps stabbing me when I try to write the story for Team RAF, not the other way around! :smalltongue:

[GolemsVoice]

Oneens. Your cause deserves it.

[Dragonrider]

I also kept thinking 'Arthur Dent'.


Me too. At worst, you can lie down in front of the bulldozer and refuse to move....

*votes no*

[MrEdwardNigma]

They're going to tear down your house? :smalleek:

I'm going to vote against that every day now. I hope it'll help, but here in Belgium it wouldn't. The government just tends to do whatever they feel like down here regardless of the law, and I think it's no different in the Netherlands.

Anyways, best of luck, and if you ever need someone to lie down in front of a bulldozer or something feel free to give me a call.

[Lupy]

It's a conspiracy! All Dutch people are evil halfling psychopaths who have deep seated emotional problems and want to kill us in our sleep! :smalleek:

No Castaras, that's Belkar. :smallwink:

[Bor the Barbarian Monk]

After searching the right side of the screen as instructed, I saw the poll on the LEFT side. Of course, I voted against the building of the road, and the results show an overwhelming "no" beating the other two options. Only 347 votes at the time I looked at the page, but if it's a sign of things to come, then it looks good for you, YPU. :smallsmile:

Best wishes and good luck!

[YPU]

Again, thank you all.

Hm, did it move (the site has been updated it seems), did I mistake, I don’t know, but bor’s right, its left.
And enigma, I wasn’t even aware that Belgium had a government currently.
Also, yea, any day one of my friends turns out to be a alien now, I just cant decide which one has the most potential for it.

[Lord Herman]

bor’s right, its left.

But if Bor's right is left, what is our right?

[thubby]

But if Bor's right is left, what is our right?

wrong:smalltongue:

[Castaras]

No Castaras, that's Belkar. :smallwink:

And how do you know that Belkar isn't Dutch? He does mention that his village is a lot like him. How do we know that his whole home country is not like him? :smallwink:

[InaVegt]

I know for sure Belkar is Dutch, he's my younger brother.

[Atomsized]

Voted. Hopefully it will get through to the people :smallwink:.

[Leigh]

Voted. Good luck!:smallsmile:

[ghost_warlock]

*salutes*
Good luck, sir.
*twitches from doing unbalanced goodness*

Note that voting 'disagree' in this case isn't necessarily a good act. After all, the whole project is apparently based on the idea that the new road will somehow make the city safer. By that reasoning, voting no to the new road is akin to voting yes to a less safe city! :smallbiggrin:

BTW, add another oneens to the tally.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Belkar is indeed dutch.

[Tamis]

Belkar is indeed dutch.

Yes, 'cause he's made of awesome!

[UncleWolf]

Voted and good luck. Hope it works.

[EmeraldRose]

Voted for you. You'll have to let us know how this turns out.

*sends luck*

[wadledo]

I wonder what would happen if millions of people voted no.
:smallbiggrin:

[Lord Herman]

Well, I do think they'd get suspicious when the total number of voters is greater than the population of the Netherlands.

[Kroy]

Voted, Oneens.

Best of luck saving your home.

[Oregano]

Yay, I voted, best of luck anywho.

[RTGoodman]

Hey, I voted NO for you. I know how it is when this kinda thing happens - my family just went through it about 5 years ago, being forced to move out of the home that's belonged to us for about 80+ years. Ah, imminent domain. :smallannoyed:

[onasuma]

Voted "onnes", and I'm passing the link around as well.

[Uncle Festy]

Oneens is now up 300-ish to 80-ish!
Also, the poll's on the left. :smalltongue:
Oh, and voted. Good luck!
EDIT:
When the playground unites, we cannot fail!!!
Can I Quote of the Week that?

[Gray Jester]

If you cut out cookies you can vote more then once, you know, and that's as easy as going up to your preferences and disabling cookies.

Four no's from me. :P I wonder if you could write a script to vote, ignore the cookie, vote, ignore the cookie, etc... I'm not sure it'd be all that hard, but I don't have the relevant knowledge (web interactions, not the logic/coding other then that) to write it.

Also, I think it might be immoral to have it vote 10,000 times... and noticeable.

[Shas aia Toriia]

I voted, said no.

Though your story does seem an awful lot like the Hitchhiker's guide. Should I be worried about my imminent demise? :smallconfused: :smalltongue:

[golentan]

Voted: though I hope you didn't actually link us to a poll such as: I believe I have civil rights (agree/disagree).

Good luck, and fight hard fellow (op/de)pression victim.

I'm having way too much fun with that format.

[Mr.Bookworm]

I voted, said no.

Though your story does seem an awful lot like the Hitchhiker's guide. Should I be worried about my imminent demise? :smallconfused: :smalltongue:

Befriend a strange two-bit actor, grab a towel, and get your house demolished. Then go to a pub, and you'll be all set.

You may also wish to insert a goldfish up your ear, on an off-chance.

Also, one more oneen vote.

[Icewalker]

Voted for you as well. Good luck. :smallfrown:

[Mr. Moon]

Come of it now, Mr. Undead. It's got to be built, and it's going to be built! It's a bypass. You've got to build bypasses, you know!

:smalltongue:

I voted "onnes" for you. Incidentally, "onnes" looks like "oh noes!" which made me laugh. :smallbiggrin:

[Twila]

Voted and good luck!:smallbiggrin:

[RTGoodman]

Four no's from me. :P I wonder if you could write a script to vote, ignore the cookie, vote, ignore the cookie, etc... I'm not sure it'd be all that hard, but I don't have the relevant knowledge (web interactions, not the logic/coding other then that) to write it.

Also, I think it might be immoral to have it vote 10,000 times... and noticeable.

Ha, it'd be like the next Stephen Colbert Bridge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Colbert_Report#Hungarian_bridge_campaign)! :smallbiggrin:

[Ethrael]

They have the playground against them! They have no chance!

Also voted and good luck too!

[onasuma]

Yeah this poll is broken. Percentages at the moment:

onnes: 332 (79%)
Eens: 80 (19%)
Geen meinung: 8 (1.9%)

= 99.9%

Edit: Ive now pestered a good few of my non-itp-er contacts into voting, ill get the rest tomorrow.

[Hooded1]

Voted. I seem to be doing that lot these days. :smallamused:

[YPU]

Hehe, we made the newspapers, in a way. Besides very well thought out articles on the road being published there was also a small article on the site getting a record number of hits the past few days.
And on the bots, don’t, first of all it wouldn’t help much, second we have a guy who works for a company who does that for a job to check how much sites can take. So we could if we really needed, but who does with the playground voting for us.
A few more votes and it would be 80% against the road, so I thank you all for your help, you can go on with your lives and stop voting all day, you could still do it of you want, but I think the point is made by now. Thank you very much all.

[Supagoof]

The power of the playground rises again, and successfully trumps all things interweb! :smallbiggrin:

Voted no because I wanted to see if I could get blood from that stone. :smallwink:

[RandomNPC]

Yar, Voted.

one more against the man. (government)

if it comes down to you laying in front of a bulldozer, i'm sorry you're to far away for me to be there to help, but remember two things.

we (yes im speaking for everyone, deal with it) will be there in spirit.
and don't forget your towel.

[oracul]

1 more vote for no to your noble cause. Now at 78.4%/ 353 votes for no.
(At first I thought, 'Who's this Arthur Dent everyone is reminded of? It just reminds me of Hitchhkers Guide to the Galaxy, but... oh, duh.' Haven't seen the movie in a while. :smalltongue:)

[Gray Jester]

(At first I thought, 'Who's this Arthur Dent everyone is reminded of? It just reminds me of Hitchhkers Guide to the Galaxy, but... oh, duh.' Haven't seen the movie in a while. :smalltongue:)

The book is infinitely better. It's like comparing a pan galactic gargle blaster to a pint of fermented wheat.

[JoseB]

Well, I voted "oneens". I won't allow for the Arthurdentification of a fellow playgrounder's home!

Good luck!

[Pepz]

Why would Schijndel need to make it's center safer, can't think of a more boring town center in the neighbourhood (I hail from Den Bosch originally :smallsmile:)

Anyways, voted Oneens obviously.

Oh, and maybe you remember the people in Vught who didn't like the buildings plan from the council and planted the eggs of a protected kamsalamander to stop the building? I know those people...so if you want to have some protected creatures *cough*